Ubisoft Developing VR Escape Game About Notre-Dame Fire

By Rollin Bishop

Ubisoft is set to release a new location-based virtual reality escape game this coming March called Notre-Dame on Fire. The VR escape game shares its name with director Jean-Jacques Annaud's upcoming docudrama of the same name and was developed in partnership with Pathé, a production company behind the movie. The one-hour experience will see players take on the role of the Parisian fire brigade during the terrible fire in April 2019 that destroyed a goodly portion of the famous landmark.

Ubisoft, which is notably a French company, has a long history at this point of supporting Notre-Dame specifically. The 2014 video game Assassin's Creed Unity featured a detailed in-game model of the cathedral, and following the fire, the company pledged to donate to the reconstruction. Ubisoft later released an immersive virtual tour using those assets. And now those models are being used for the new location-based VR escape game, a project born out of Annaud reaching up to Ubisoft while in production on the film in early 2021.

You can check out a trailer for the film itself below:

Because of the period of time between then and March 2022 -- a release the film was fixed to -- it was ultimately decided that it would be a location-based VR escape game rather than a full-fledged game. That means it'll appear in over 600 international partner locations that have access to such things from Ubisoft in March, and plays out much like other VR escape games with puzzles and the like. It also means cooperation is key.

"Like any escape game, it's a question of puzzles and co-operating with your teammates," Deborah Papiernik, Ubisoft senior VP new business and strategic alliances, told Variety. "The idea is to make your way through the cathedral to find relics and to fight the fire, because you have to save Notre Dame [before the clock runs out]."  

As noted above, both the Notre-Dame on Fire movie and location-based VR escape game are set to come out in March 2022. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Ubisoft in general right here.

What do you think about Ubisoft partnering with Pathé on a VR escape game based on Notre-Dame on Fire? Is this the sort of thing that you would like to see Ubisoft do more of in the future? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

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